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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Crain's Looks at Downtown Condo Collapse

Crain's is taking a look at the broad downtown real estate crash and it's probably not going to surprise you much. If you were around back then, you probably know the story. Regardless, it's good to hear some of the stats and especially hear/read how the Sloop was affected. Here is a video summarizing the piece (from Chicagobusiness.com):

SOUTH LOOP SWOON Of the 129 downtown condo projects on the market five years ago, 53, or 41.1 percent, have run afoul of their lenders. The greatest concentration of distress has been in the South Loop, widely recognized as the city's most overbuilt neighborhood. Twenty-six of 44 South Loop projects, or 59.1 percent, have been financially troubled at some point in the past five years. That includes three condo towers in the Central Station development taken over recently by a group of lenders and New York-based developer Related Cos.

The good news is that the market, though far from healthy, is in the early stages of recovery. Condo sales in the city are rising again, and developers have chipped away at the glut of unsold units in recent years, either by slashing prices or renting them. In 25 buildings being marketed in 2007—19.4 percent of the total—all or some units have been rented rather than sold, according to Crain's analysis.

Anyone have thoughts? While the South Loop seemed to epitomize the boom and bust of the housing crash, the neighborhood in general still seems positioned for strong growth over the long term in our opinion (obviously we're a tad biased).